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☆ Casino extends creditors’ losing streak
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Casino had previously hinted that it was seeking to restructure the unsecured portion of its debt, worth around 3.6 billion euros, implying that the remaining 4 billion euros of secured debt would remain intact. That implies borrowings of less than 2.7 billion euros, based on analysts’ forecasts compiled by Refinitiv. As a result, between 1 and 1.5 billion euros of the secured debt may also be converted into equity. Casino reckons it needs at least 900 million euros of new money to finance the company’s business plan in the next few years. The winner, who will be the group’s largest shareholder, will then determine whether they can end Casino’s losing streak.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Xavier Niel, Pierre Briancon, crouch, Eli Lilly, Peter Thal Larsen, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Casino, Refinitiv, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Czech

DIRTY BEACHESClean water campaign groups accuse the water companies of failing to invest in infrastructure. She was replaced by two co-chief executives, Chief Finance Officer Alastair Cochran and former Ofwat boss Cathryn Ross, who has been at Thames Water since 2021. Jefferies analysts said Britain's listed water operators Severn Trent (SVT.L), Pennon Group (PNN.L) and United Utilities (UU.L) were better capitalised than Thames Water, but the issues with the largest company meant a "heightened regulatory environment". Daily headlines about rivers and beaches polluted by sewage released by water companies look set to turn water into a major issue at the next general election, expected next year. Thames Water said in its annual report in October that it had not paid a dividend to its shareholders for the last five years.

Persons: Rishi Sunak's, Jeremy Hunt, Sarah Bentley, Alastair Cochran, Cathryn Ross, Alix, Ofwat, Australia's Macquarie, Sarah Young, Paul Sandle, Radhika Anilkumar, David Evans, Mark Potter Organizations: Company, British, Sky News, Conservatives, Thames, Times, Ontario, China Investment Corp, Water, Alix Partners, Daily Telegraph, Jefferies, Trent, Pennon, United Utilities, Environment Agency, Financial Times, Thomson Locations: England, Wales, Britain, Thames

☆ Thames Water: The company supplying water to millions of Londoners is in deep trouble
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Britain’s biggest water supplier said Wednesday it needed to raise more cash from investors, as UK media reported the government was preparing contingency plans to rescue the company. Thames Water provides drinking water and waste water services to 15 million customers in London and the southeast of England. Thames Water received £500 million ($635 million) from shareholders in March, but said Wednesday it would need more. Ofwat said it was in “ongoing discussions” with Thames Water “on the need for a robust and credible plan to turn the business around.”“We will continue to focus on protecting customers’ interests,” it added. We prepare for a range of scenarios across our regulated industries — including water — as any responsible government would.”The spokesperson added that the UK water sector “as a whole is financially resilient.”Thames Water says about 24% of the water it supplies to customers is lost through leakage.

Persons: London CNN —, Sarah Bentley, “, Ofwat, ” Organizations: London CNN, Thames Water, Thames, Ofwat, UK Treasury, Sky News, CNN, Ontario, Columbia Investment Management Corporation Locations: London, England, Abu Dhabi

☆ Thames Water woes could have bigger ripples
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The UK government is working on plans to nationalise Thames Water, Sky News reports. The indebted utility, which lost its chief executive on Tuesday, may be placed into a special administration regime, with ministers worrying about the company's ability to shoulder 14 billion pounds of debt. UK water companies, privatised by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, were supposed to be sleepy investments churning out inflation-proof dividends. Thames, owned by Macquarie (MQG.AX) until 2017, had debt equivalent to 80% of its 17.9 billion pounds regulator-defined asset value last September. Its current shareholders, which include Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and China Investment Corporation, last year pledged to invest 1.5 billion pounds to prop it up.

Persons: Margaret Thatcher, Neil Unmack, Eli Lilly, Aston Martin, George Hay, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Sky News, Macquarie, System, China Investment Corporation, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Thames, Yorkshire, Ontario, Canada

☆ UK holds crisis talks as top water supplier seeks cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Engineers from a Thames Water leak hunting team unloads equipment from their van during a night shift in London, UK, on Wednesday, May 2, 2023. The chief executive of Britain's biggest water supplier stepped down with immediate effect on Tuesday. The British government has held emergency talks over the fate of the country's biggest water supplier, Thames Water, and said it is ready for any outcome, including temporary state ownership, as the company buckles under huge debts. "We need to make sure that Thames Water as an entity survives," business and trade minister Kemi Badenoch told Sky News. Ofwat said it had been in ongoing talks with Thames Water about the need for a credible plan to turn the business around.

Persons: Rebecca Pow, Rishi Sunak's, Pow, Kemi Badenoch, Ofwat Organizations: Engineers, Thames, Conservatives, Sky News, Water Locations: London, England, Wales

☆ EU’s digital euro plan reflects defensive crouch
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A digital euro, he argues, is essential so that the EU does not fall “behind the curve” in global payments, private-label digital currencies and electronic versions of central bank money. Under the proposal, the European Central Bank would have control over who can use the digital euro, how it will be used internationally, and how much people can hold at one time. At the same time, the plan calls for a digital European currency to have an international role, part of efforts to shore up the euro as a global reserve currency. The EU plan calls for the digital euro to be accepted as legal tender almost everywhere, at no cost to ordinary consumers. If there is going to be a digital euro, Europe’s governments and institutions are clear that they, not the private sector, will be in charge.

Persons: Valdis Dombrovskis, Rebecca Christie, Eli Lilly, Aston Martin, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, European Central Bank, U.S . Federal Reserve, Bank of England, EU, ECB, Twitter, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ M&G would be a tricky hop for kangaroo raider
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - M&G (MNG.L) would be a tricky hop for Macquarie (MQG.AX). The $48 billion Australian financial powerhouse may bid for the $6 billion UK insurer. The appeal is likely to be in the fund management group. Macquarie’s own asset management arm accounted for over 30% of net profit in the first half of its current financial year. Follow @Unmack1 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSAustralian banking group Macquarie is considering a bid for UK insurance and asset management group M&G, Sky News reported on March 1.

☆ Britain's Thames Water pledges $1.92 billion to cut sewage discharges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - British utility Thames Water plans to invest 1.6 billion pounds ($1.92 billion) in the next two years to cut discharges into rivers and tackle pollution, after UK water firms faced a backlash over sewage outflows into waterways. England and Wales water regulator Ofwat and Britain's Environment Agency are investigating several water companies that admitted they might be illegally discharging sewage. Last year Ofwat served formal notices to Thames Water and others over concerns about the firm's responses to its queries on their sewage treatment operations. Water companies in the UK who are caught creating illegal pollution could face having to pay compensation for damages, or legal prosecution. Thames Water, which provides services to 15 million customers across London, the Thames Valley and surrounding areas, said it was committed to reduce its yearly discharges by 50% by 2030.

☆ A 98-year-old was mistakenly sent a water bill showing she had consumed the equivalent of one million cups of tea in 6 months
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A woman's water bill said she used enough water for one million cups of tea in six months, per the BBC. The bill from her supplier, Thames Water, was previously $37 but rose to $238, her son told the BBC. A leak caused the high water readings, but Thames Water took months to respond, per the BBC. Estelle Mendoza, who has dementia and is confined to her bed, was sent a bill from British water supplier Thames Water costing £215. Thames Water wrote in the bill that Mendoza had consumed 255 megaliters of water within the space of six months, Lawrence told the BBC.

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